Sarah Pannell | Australia

Why we love Sarah

An intriguing honesty floats through Sarah’s work with a rare elegance. Her candid photographs are both intriguing and familiar and always demand further exploration. Her series are a masterclass in visual storytelling and curation. We hope her work inspires you as much as it does the Urth team.

Who is Sarah Pannell?

Sarah Pannell is an Australian documentary photographer whose work focuses on culture, landscape, tradition and community. Sarah received a BA International Studies from Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia (2009) and a BA Photography, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (2012).

Curiosity spurs her to travel as often as she can to where she can observe and explore shifting cultures and changing spaces. This fascination with humans’ ever-evolving dance with their surrounding environments has led to an array of projects focussing on everyday life, preservation of traditions and communities around the world. Sarah’s soft and human gaze aims to diffuse and enrich perspectives of cultures and societies that are often overwhelmingly shrouded in negativity by outside eyes.

Sarah has produced a number of publications including Tabriz to Shiraz (2019) published by Perimeter Editions and Hillvale, self-published titles including Sehir (2014) and The Territories (2015). Her undergraduate studies in International Studies focussed on 20th century Middle Eastern politics and history which has led to her interest in the region, most recently in Iran and Egypt.